Wicked Weasel

Yesterday I heard that the German Grand Prix had over 100K people and I think a 4 day total of over 300K.

How do these numbers compare to NASCAR? I am sure there is a list of attendance for both venues.....

Falcon

There's over 200,000 at the Daytona 500. God only knows how many people show up for all other preliminary races/events during that 2 week period, i.e. Bush Clash, qualifying, etc.

At the spring Charlotte race, they have ~125,000+ for the main race and, like Daytona, they have 2 weeks of preliminary races/events that pack 'em in.

kbdub

F1 tends to attract much lower crowd volumes in person, due mainly to the venue size. However, look into the television ratings and see how many people watch it. F1 measures in billions of viewers where NASCAR measure in millions. I think the F1 race at Indy last year had 130000 on race day(even more this year after tie tire disaster of last year!). If I remember correctly the problem with F1 in Europe is that they dont build huge stands to support crowds of 300k people. That is why most of the cheap tickets are over $500.
Funny thought...i bet 10% of the people at the F1 race make more than the entire NASCAR crowd at one of their races

VetteDrmr

The Texas Cup race runs about 220K, probably 60-80K for the Busch race.

Have a good one,
Mike

95jersey

Sebring is up there around 200k people.

LeMans is up there around 200-300k people as well. I wonder if LeMans isn't the most attended motor race in the world?

vader86

You're looking at ~100-150K for every single NASCAR race, rain/shine/120F/whatever.

xsiveone

F1 doesn't care that much about ticket sales. They make most of their money from TV deals around the world.

John Shiels

most watched sport in the world, so they say.

IRL race was embarrassing to see the stands empty and just 18 cars:o I think they try not to pan up there much with the camera

vms4evr

IRL is just boring. NASCAR track without all the bumping and rubbing. I want to see Formula type cars running road courses, not rovals. It puts me to sleep.

DanZ51

I've dragged a couple of friends who have seen their share of Stock Car, Dirt track and even Indy Car events.

me- "No, NO. You can't compare IRL to F1. It NOTHING like F1!"

Man you should have seen their faces when pulled up to the track parking lot (Montreal) and ONE Formula car was making a few test laps.

They were freaking out running for the entrance. There's nothing like a V10 at FULL SHRILL to get your attention

forhamilton

Sounds like something I would read on Rennlist. Stupid statement.

NJCRUISER

I used to have this theory that road racing events do not make good spectator events because you can only view the straightaways or maybe 2 or 3 turns. I guess IRL's poor attendance puts that one to bed. They do plenty of oval stuff where you can see most if not all of the track and still no show.

Personally, I very much enjoyed watching the Grand AM DP's race at Phoenix International. Not the greatest RR track, but you can see everything form where I was sitting including straightaways and the infield action. This, we know is rare in RR. I think since most of us here have done some form of racing whether it be track days, door to door, or AutoX, we can appreciate what goes on as we watch cars go through the twisties and soforth. I think NASCAR is not popular with us for that very reason, and is popular with a great number of people who just watch for the crashes and all of that sideshow crap that they do to entertain.

So ask yourself this: If you are someone who can drive at high speeds and can control your car in a yaw, can immediately feel understeer and oversteer and correct accordingly - Wouldn't you be more likely to either tune in to televised road racing events or attend them in person because you can identify with those drivers?

For me, I always found Nascar boring, and I never watched road racing until I began doing events with cars which was in my mid 20's. So I guess the foundation that I am laying here is that we love our sport because we have a closeup understanding of it. We have done it more or less firsthand. I'm not saying that every last spectator at a RR event is a driver of some sort, but If you have looked around at SCCA, Grand Am etc. spectator numbers it's not too crazy to admit something close to that. Just a thought

BTW, F1 is entirely something different. When I was in Italy, I remember a guy selling flowers on the corner by my hotel. Come one Sunday I think, This guy had dragged a 30" console T.V out there to watch F1! The extension cord musta been 50 feet long coming from a storefront across the walkway. Ferrari flags everywhere. They just shut down everything to watch those races. That's what I call a "phenomenon".

BTW, if LeMans in France gets 300k, why the hell can't we get anybody out to ALMS in record numbers!

xsiveone

I heard that it's second behind Football (Soccer). F1 is the most watched motorsport in the world though.

xsiveone

The guys sitting in the infield in their inflatable pools might argue with you on that one.

Bink

Only World Cup years is soccer #1. Off years --->> F1.

AU N EGL

Ohh dont do that man. That sound or even just the mention of that engine sound.

I went to the Candian GP back in 86, V12 motors then :

corvette-pilot

The track in NH is a tiny place but they bring in 100k for each of the 2 races and are sold out a year in advance. They used to have the Indy cars but no one was going to see them and they stopped a number of years ago.

Falcon

Have you ever been to a NHRA Top Fuel or Funny Car event?

Falcon

As you mentioned, it's very difficult or impossible to view the entirety of a road race due to the configuration of the track.

I've been to Road Atlanta to watch the Petite LeMans and find it hard as hell to keep up. For the start, I stand in Turn 1 to watch all the jockeying going on for the race up the hill. After that, I'm lost.

I've left the track after a couple of hours of the race, driven 3-1/2 hours to my house and watched the conclusion on TV. TV doesn't miss any of the excitement, and they always update you on the lead changes and such.

trumper Z06

The Petit LeMans @ Road Atlanta... Qualifying's on Friday. You can walk around most of the track & get right down next to the cars in pit lane. Last year's open wheel car race was fun... watching Marco Andretti come from the back of the grid to finish in the top ten.

Saturday's attendance makes it far more difficult to move around. Like the Mayor... I go on Saturday to see the start. We usually leave... late afternoon... and watch the finish on Speed Channel.